About Doyle Brunson

Name	Doyle Brunson
Current Residence	Las Vegas Nev.
Born	Aug. 10, 1933
Birth Place	Longworth Texas, US

Don't deal Doyle Brunson out just yet. The legendary poker pro is still making news, winning games and hoping to claim an 11th World Series of Poker bracelet. Retirement, Brunson says, will come when he quits winning.
Born August 10, 1933, in the midst of the Depression
marked cards in Longworth, Texas, the man who later would become known as "Texas Dolly" was just another farm boy in a town of 100. Early on, Brunson found a niche in athletics. After winning the Texas State Championship in the mile run and landing a spot on the all-state basketball team, Brunson was fielding offers of athletic scholarships from colleges across the United States. In the end, he chose Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene because it was only 40 miles from his hometown.
There, he studied education and was drafted by the NBA's Minneapolis Lakers. Though a knee injury - which persists to this day - sidelined Brunson's career as a professional athlete, he completed his studies and graduated from university with an MBA in administrative education.
Meanwhile, Brunson helped pay for his education by playing poker games at colleges around Texas. By his account, Brunson learned the game quickly and used his observation skills to cash in. After graduating from university, Brunson took his one and only day job selling office equipment. His first paycheck seemed so paltry compared to his poker winnings, Brunson quit and became a professional player. That meant going underground.
At outlaw games, Brunson had to contend with police, cheaters and robbers; he once saw the player next to him shot and killed, and has looked down the barrel of a gun during an interrupted poker game.
In 1960, Brunson met Louise, the woman he would eventually marry after several years of courting and convincing her it would be fine to marry a professional gambler. Early in their marriage, Doyle was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his throat and the prognosis was grave marked card tricks: Doctors gave him several months to live as the tumor was spreading quickly toward his brain.
Ever the gambler, Brunson chose to try a risky surgery as his last hope. When all was said and done, he was pronounced cancer-free. The news couldn't have come at a better time as Louise was pregnant with their first child and Brunson needed to head back out on the poker trail to start earning money for his family, which quickly grew to include two daughters, Doyla and Pamela, and son Todd, who is also now a professional poker player.
Brunson continued to support his growing brood playing and winning on the poker circuit, where he eventually met his mentor Johnny Moss as well as future partners Amarillo Slim Preston and Sailor Roberts. The men toured Texas, winning big money and earning a reputation for being nearly unbeatable high-stakes poker players. The trio eventually disbanded after losing their six-figure bankroll in Las Vegas, but Brunson hadn't lost his love of poker.
After wearing out his welcome in Texas, Brunson packed up his wife and their four children and moved to Las Vegas where poker was legal. By 1976, he had won his first World Series of Poker title, which he followed up with a second win in 1977. The two championships have forever branded the 10-2 Hold'em hand a "Doyle Brunson" because he took both championship games with a full house - tens full of deuces.
Brunson made his mark again in 1978, by penning the book Super/System, considered a definitive guide to poker. Since then he has also authored Super/System 2; a book of memoirs; and a book about the greatest hands he's ever seen.
In 2005, he earned his tenth World Series of Poker bracelet, a record he shared with Johnny Chan.
Solidifying his place in poker history, he also has a World Poker Tour event in his name. The Doyle Brunson North American Championship is the main event of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio, where Doyle is often seen playing in the biggest cash games around. The championship is the second largest tournament by entry fee on the WPT with its $15,000 buy-in, second only to the $25,000 WPT Championship.
Success at the tables and legendary status haven't kept Brunson from expanding his horizons as well. He owns and endorses an online gaming site, DoylesRoom.com, which made headlines in 2006 when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced it was investigating the operation.
Now well into his golden years, Brunson is as busy as ever and, by his account, still winning more than he loses. From humble beginnings to one of the most influential forces in poker today, Brunson means it when he says, "A man with money is no match against a man on a mission."

Trivia

• Holds 10 gold WSOP bracelets, a record he shares with Johnny Chan
• Won his first two World Series of Poker events with a 10-2 hand
• Drafted as a young man to play for the Minneapolis Lakers, a former NBA team
• Has nearly $5 million in tournament winnings
• Authored Super/System, often called the poker bible

10 More Essential Hold’em Moves: The Isolation Play

There’s no simple fix for becoming a winning poker player but there are a handful of simple, easy-to-execute poker moves that can make a world of difference to your bottom line.
By fine-tuning these tactics you’ll have more tools to put to work at the poker table. You’ll be able to better understand your opponents and how to manipulate them, and that will translate directly to money in your pocket.
We already wrote the book on the 10 Essential Texas Hold’em Moves and now we’re back to bring you 10 more.
Today we’re exploring the isolation play, a move that can narrow the field when you’re in a hand and increase your chances of taking down the pot.
In certain situations you don’t want to play marked cards a multi-way pot so by isolating one player in particular you can give yourself a better chance of making the best hand or using position to win the pot post-flop.
The What: While there are a few different reasons to make an isolation play the basic mechanics are the same. An isolation play refers to re-raising an opening raiser in order to push the other players at the table out of the pot, thus isolating only the player against whom you want to play.

Players like Phil Ivey understand that sometimes it's better to be heads-up.

 

The Why: By pushing the rest of the table out of a hand you will a) have a better chance of winning the pot by making the best hand by showdown or b) be able to use position to take down the pot after the flop.
The Where: Using the isolation play against a shortstacked player is most commonly used in tournaments while isolating limpers and maniacs can be used in both tournaments and cash games.
The When: Like most poker moves the isolation play works best when you’re in position.

Isolating the Right Way

Since there are a few different reasons for using the isolation play it’s extremely important to understand the situation, your opponent and why you’re trying to isolate him or her.
The basic concept behind the isolation play has to do with reducing the variables in the hand as much as possible so you’re better able to control the outcome.
The more players in a hand, the more likely someone’s going to flop a big hand or get creative with a bluff after the flop.
By isolating just one player you can take control of the hand and increase your chances of winning the pot.

Isolating Shortstacks

The most basic isolation play is used in tournaments when one of your opponents is dangerously low on chips and desperate to double up or pick up the blinds and antes.
Imagine you’re on the button and the player in cut-off is very short (six big blinds). Action folds to the cut-off who moves all-in.

Give yourself better odds of winning by isolating shortstacks when they move all-in.

 

You know this player to be competent, and not one to let himself be blinded out of the tournament. You know this player is willing to take a risk with marginal cards in order to pick up the blinds and antes.
You look down at A-J and must now decide how to proceed.
If you just call, the blinds will have very good pot odds to call with marginal hands (for example the big blind will have to call five big blinds for a chance to win a pot of 20 big blinds).
And as we said before, the more easy cards tricks players in the pot, the harder it’s going to be for you to make the best hand by showdown.
To put it in practical terms let’s say the shortstacked cut-off shoved with K-Q and the big blind is sitting with 5-6 suited.
In a heads-up pot against the cut-off you have a roughly 60 percent chance of making the best hand by the river. If the player in the big blind enters the pot, however, your chances of showing down the best hand drop to 35 percent.
Figure out the odds yourself with our Poker Odds Calculator.
By three-betting instead of calling you price the big blind out of coming along with a speculative hand, allowing you to go heads-up against the shortstack who is shoving with a very wide range.

Isolating Maniacs

In the previous example we were using the isolation play to increase our chances of showing down the best hand, but the same play can be used to isolate an overly-aggressive player, allowing you to use position to win pots after the flop.
Imagine you’re playing a $1/$2 cash game and the player to your right is raising way too many hands and generally playing very loose.
You know he can’t have a premium hand every time he comes in for a raise and since you have position, you can use his aggressive style against him.
The next time he raises you look down at pocket fours. It might be tempting to just call and try to flop a set but since you’re only going to flop a four one in eight times, the vast majority of the time you’ll be forced to fold to the aggressive player’s continuation bet.

Proceed with caution when trying to isolate maniacs who play well.

 

Another problem is that if you just call, it’s going to drag other players into the pot behind you who will have the correct pot odds to call with other pocket pairs, suited connected and other speculative hands.
By three-betting you will push those same players out of the hand and allow you to go heads-up against a player who’s out of position and playing a very wide range of hands.
Any two unpaired cards will miss the flop two out three times which means the majority of the time your opponent will be forced to fold when you continuation bet the flop.

Isolating Limpers

Using the isolation play against weak players who limp too much uses the same basic concept as isolating maniacs.
Since limpers are usually just trying to see a cheap flop with marginal hands, you can raise in position even if you don’t have a premium hand. Most of the time the limper will just fold but when they do call it’s usually a mistake.
One of the biggest beginner leaks in poker is limp-calling too much out of position with marginal cards.
And since limping too much is generally a sign of a weak player, you should be trying to play as many pots against them as possible, especially when you’re in position.
So next time you identify a player as limping too much consider raising. Hopefully the rest of the table will fold and you’ll either win the pot preflop or go heads-up in position against a weak player which is always a recipe for profit.